History of the building

Anglicans living in Cheshire in 1751 traveled to Wallingford to worship until the Rev. Ichabod Camp encouraged the formation of an Episcopal Society in Cheshire. By 1760, Morning Prayer was being read in Cheshire by Mr. Joseph Moss at the house of Mr. Zachariah Ives. Desiring to have their own church in Cheshire, these early Episcopalians built a small wooden building, 20 feet wide and 22 feet in length. This new church was located on property owned by Joseph Moss, property on which the current St. Peter's Church stands.

As St. Peter's membership grew over the years, existing buildings soon became too small. The original church was replaced by a larger wooden structure in 1770 and that building was enlarged in 1795 and a steeple was added. By the late 1830's the old wooden church was in need of substantial repairs to the point that it was decided that a new building would be needed. In 1839 the present nave was built with 126,000 bricks purchased from the Stiles brickyard in north Haven. Using their own wagons, individual parish members transported a portion of these 126,000 bricks from the Stiles brickyard to Cheshire. The archives of St. Peter's contain a list showing how many bricks each parishioner promised to haul himself. In 1876 the chancel was recessed and the current transepts were added to give extra seating. In 1 889 a parish house was added to the front of the building measuring 18 by 60 feet and the steeple was moved to its present location. This two-story addition is today our present narthex on the first floor and contains offices on the second floor.

As St. Peter's began a growth spurt after World War II, the new parish house was built with the addition of a choir room and office. in the 1960's, the present education wing was added. In the middle 1990's a long-range plan for maintaining and restoring the buildings was drawn up. The three objectives of this plan were to add space for the growing Sunday school, renovate and restore portions of the buildings, and address safety and handicap access issues. Completed projects include rewiring of the nave in 1997, in 100% replacement of the heating system and conversion to natural gas in 1998, replacement of 100% of the roofs in 1999, and redesign & rebuilding of the parish house in 2000. Funding for these projects were a capital campaign and endowment

Clergy History

In 1788 St. Peter's first full time Rector, the Rev. Reuben Ives, was called by the parish and remained as Rector for 32 years. Due in large part to Mr Ives, Cheshire was chosen as the site of the Episcopal Academy, which was founded by Bishop Seabury in 1796. Over the years there has been a close association of the Episcopal Academy and its successor, Cheshire Academy, with many of the Rectors at St. Peter's holding a dual responsibility as headmaster of the Academy.

The modern period of rectors can be dated from the Rev. Morgan Porteus. the Rev. Morgan Porteus served St. Peter's from 1944 to 1971 at which time he left St. Peter's as he had been elected Suffragan Bishop of Connecticut. When the Rev. Porteus came to St. Peter's in 1944, Cheshire was a sleepy little farming community and St. Peter's was a parish in dire need to be re-energized. Coupled with the Rev. Porteus' talents and enthusiasm and the impending growth of Cheshire in the 1950's and 1960's, St. Peter's began a tremendous growth spurt. Sunday school classes were so large that they were split by grade into a boy's class and a girl's class. Without the room to house classes in St. Peter's buildings, classrooms at Humiston School next-door were rented. The Rev. Porteus was very active in liturgical renewal and eventually became a member of the Standing Liturgical Commission.

The Rev. Charles Hocking was rector of St. Peter's from 1972 to 1979. During his tenure, Fr. Hocking instituted many family oriented activities. Deeply interested in creation and the origin of the universe, Fr. Hocking held several lecture series about these subjects. Fr. Hocking expanded the outreach activities of St. Peter's with lay led services at convalescence homes, settlement of two Vietnamese families, programs to help elderly residents of Cheshire remain in their homes, and several other activities.

Following Fr. Hocking, the Rev. Kenneth R. Coleman came to St. Peter's in 1980 after serving as rector of Christ Church in Oil City, PA. Fr. Coleman served at St. Peter's until 1989 when he retired. Fr. Coleman was a superb administrator, believing in shared ministry with the parish. While Fr. Coleman was rector, St. Peter's gained organizational structure by having a series of guilds in the service, worship, education, evangelism, and pastoral care disciplines.

Most recently, the Rev. Stephen A. Fales was St. Peter's rector from Sept. 1990 to April 2002. This was a 'second' time around for Fr. Steve as he had served St. Peter's in the 1970s as a seminarian while he was a student at Berkeley Divinity School.

Fr. Steve came to St. Peter's from St. Andrew's the Apostle in Rocky Hill, CT where he served as rector. Fr. Steve left St. Peter's to accept a call at St. Christopher's in Carmel, Indiana. Fr. Steve had played a large role in the building projects that were recently completed. As mentioned before, one need for the building project was to obtain more Sunday school space as the number of children enrolled grew during the 1990s. Also during Fr. Steve's tenure, the parish was re-energized with more spiritual, service, and social activities. Attendance at Sunday services grew and the church became a more active place.

In September of 2003, the Reverend Sandra Stayner was called to be Rector of St. Peters.